Lord Sugar: "I'm not really an Apple fan"

However admits competitors always in "catch-up mode"

Seen by many to be the father of the modern tech boom in the UK, Lord Sugar confesses that while he does have an iPad he's still rooting for the Android army

In an interview with T3's Matt Hill, Alan Sugar has admitted that while he does own an iPad he's secretly rooting for Google's Android operating system citing the constant stream of innovation that comes from the open-source OS.

The entrepreneur spoke candidly about the birth of Sky and his stance on the ongoing battle between Apple and Android. To read the full interview be sure to get the latest issue of T3 Magazine here.

"I've got the iPad, though I'm not really an Apple fan, to be honest with you. I don't wish to say anything bad about them, but they're obviously very, very successful..They're a fashionable product, a cool product to have, and they've been very clever in tying up the apps and iStores and iTunes and all that stuff."

While his admiration for Apple's ecosystem is considerable Lord Sugar is keen to point out however that "when it comes to technology, the quality of the reproduction on the telephone, the sensitivity and all that, there are others that are streets ahead of them."

He realises that it's not an easy sell though pointing out, "at the end of the day, they've got a hard job. Anyone taking on Apple has got a hard job because they're just so loved by the young fraternity, everybody loves them."

"They love them because of the apps that are on there, and of course every time an app writer wakes up on a Monday morning he thinks about writing something for an Apple [product], not for an HTC or a Samsung, so they're always in catch-up mode."

Despite this he believes that more often than not the superior product isn't always made by the better ecosystem arguing that hard product is just as important.

"It's fair to say [however], for usability of the phone, for some of the clever features on it, for collection of email and things like that, some of these other manufacturers are much better."